Cinema I & II

1600 Deerfield Road,

Highland Park,
IL60035

Not exactly transferred. In the mid 70’s I oversaw construction of several new cinemas around the area. I started out at Ford City as an usher, was an asst mgr at Harlem-Cermak and Randhust. I coordinated the building of Fondulac Wisc., this one in Highland Park, the one in Hanover Park called Tradewinds Cinema, helped with the split of Harlem-Cermak, Ford City, Carpentersville, and Mt. Prospect. I would only stay around at the grand openings or reopenings for a week or two to help train the staff and then be off to work on another one. I left the company in 1975.

Anybody know what happened to the Community House Theater in central Highland Park? Rather primitive seating. I recall seeing a lot of the British Comedies there in the late ‘50’s and '60’s. Seating was probably only a couple hundred or so.

After its closing in the early 1980s, the theater was owned and operated by Conn Music Center…they sold mostly pianos/organs and taught music lessons in one of the two old theaters.

In the past 5-10 years, it was demolished, along with the old gas station/garage behind it on Old Deerfield Road, along with the junkyard that once sat behind it. (incidentally, it was discovered that the junkyard was a former Native American burial ground…bones were discovered that dated to 1000 years ago!)

A Jewel-Osco now sits where the General Cinema I & II once stood.

ALSO – the Toys R Us is still located in its original location, across the parking lot from it…and the cinema was the only part of the shopping complex that was demolished for redevelopment.

The theater was stand alone on the north side of a large lot. I don’t recall when it closed, but for a long time after it was a huge piano store with the same plain white exterior. A few years ago the shabby Jewel further east on Central Ave. in Highland Park closed and moved to the location where the theater once stood. I believe they leveled the former building.

This was a great spot for kids movies in the 70s. I’m not sure if it was exclusively family films, but this is where all the Disney live-action movies like Witch Mountain, Gus, and the ilk played. Across the lot was Bargain Town, which was the precursor to Toys R Us (old school HPers still call the still in business Toys R Us, Bargain Town). There was also an awesome candy and ice cream emporium across the lot with an old time decor and a huge sundae called the Kitchen Sink, which was delivered with all sorts of fanfare.